Week 4 Seminar Notes Gp2
Seminar Outline 1. HOUSEKEEPING (17.30-17.50) - CRITICAL CASE STUDY & TASK SHEET - PARTICIPATION TASK SHEET 2. INDIVIDUAL RAT (17.50-18.05) 3. TEAM RAT (18.05-18.25) 4. CHALLENGES (18.25-18.30) - ONLY IF REQUIRED 5. LECTURE INPUT & "WHY" QUESTIONS - ISSUES FROM READINGS/RATs (18.30-19.00) 8. ACTIVITY/APPLICATIONS (19.10-20.15) Key Seminar Points, Ideas and Information In the first article of the readings, Brook discusses the merits and critiques Hage's thesis regarding cosmopolitan multiculturalism in Australia during and after the Keating government. Hage contends that, from his observations and interviews in and around the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, he has discovered a problematic trend regarding the commodification of food cultures. He theorises the situation by suggesting that the 'cosmopolitan' cultural elite of Sydney pursue a cultural experience by purchasing and eating the food of a different culture, but this enforces a patronising relationship betwen the dominant class and the cultures with which it relates in this way. This relationship commodifies the cultural experience, in accordance with Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital. However, in making culture something to be bought and sold, it devalues and delegitimises the experience to be garnered from it. It becomes aspirational and an expression of cultural status, rather than an authentic appreciation of another culture. This appears less like genuine multiculturalism, and more like a hunting safari or a visit to a theme park. It is important to note that both the consumer and the provider of the consumed become complicit in the process of consumption of difference, as both have something to gain from the process. The Notion of Cultural Capital Brook argues Hague doesn't sufficiently use Bourdieu's idea of cultural capital in the reading. Bourdieu, a French Socioligist and Theorist, argues that cultural capital is something you can possess and acquire more of (by having a little bit of it). It relates to a person's capacity and knowlege that links in with dominant groups/ideas/power that a group possesses that's associated or approved by dominant structures of the time. i.e how someone dresses, speaks, what and how one eats. The greater capacity you possess, to demonstrate or master them, the higher your cultural value. C ultural authority is then given to certain tastes, and/or modes of relating to an object and text. Symbolic Violence The act of someone with higher cultural capital trying to change the behaviors of one with less cultural capital. Used to channel or change behaviours to be more aligned with 'approved' cultural practices. This doesn't have to be direct but it can cause embarrassment. See Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman eating at a fancy restaurant as an example. Dimity Glocalisation mix/fusion of local/global Creolisation (aka hybrid) new/old world, mix of cultures, not primarily global or local, from identity through food practices/ways of thinking/relating to food. Michel de Certeau "The Practice of Everyday Life" - "everyday life invents itself by poaching in countless ways on the property of others" In feudeal societies, land owners had large properties and had workers on the land - there was a big difference between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. 'Poaching' meant stealing from land owners for survival and/or using the property of others to make space for yourself to survive. Glossary Cosmopolitanism: The idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation, do (or at least can) belong to a single community, and that this community should be cultivated. Different versions of cosmopolitanism envision this community in different ways, some focusing on political institutions, others on moral norms or relationships, and still others focusing on shared markets or forms of cultural expression. The philosophical interest in cosmopolitanism lies in its challenge to commonly recognized attachments to fellow-citizens, the local state, parochially shared cultures, and the like. (Taken from the website of Pauline Kleingeld and Eric Brown) - Comopolitanism often refers back to the term GLOBAL CITY. Pedagogy: The art, science, or profession of teaching, especially education (Merriam Webster.com) Bourdieu: Pierre Bourdieu (August 1, 1930 – January 23, 2002) was an acclaimed French sociologist. Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location, and symbolic violence to reveal the dynamics of power relations in social life. His work emphasized the role of practice and embodiment or forms in social dynamics and worldview construction, often in opposition to universalized Western philosophical traditions. He built upon the theories of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Edmund Husserl, Georges Canguilhem, Karl Marx, Gaston Bachelard, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Marcel Mauss. A notable influence on Bourdieu was Blaise Pascal, after whom Bourdieu titled his Pascalian Meditations. He used methods drawn from a wide range of disciplines, specially philosophy, sociology and anthropology. His best known book is Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, in which he argues that judgments of taste are related to social position. His argument is put forward by an original combination of social theory and data from surveys, photographs and interviews, in an attempt to reconcile difficulties such as how to understand the subject within objective structures. In the process, he tried to reconcile the influences of both external social structures and subjective experience on the individual (see structure and agency). One of the principal players in French intellectual life, Bourdieu became the "intellectual reference" for movements opposed to neo-liberalism and globalisation that developed in France and elsewhere during the 1990s.1 (Wikipedia) Polemical (page 510 in S Brook reading) –noun 1. a controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc. 2. a person who argues in opposition to another; controversialist. –adjective 3. Also, po⋅lem⋅i⋅cal. of or pertaining to a polemic; controversial. (Dictionary .com) Creolisation: Fusion and the emergence of new cultures around the world. Often refers as the 'mixture' and 'hybridity' of different cultures. The terms came from 'creole food' which is basically a mix of French, Spanish, Canarian, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Southern America, Indian and African cuisine, originated from Louisiana. Multicultural Policy in Australia: White Australia Policy was in practise till the later part of the twentieth century, this was the policy of favouring applications from certain countries. After World war-II, around 1973 this policy was officially replaced by the "Multicultural policy". The multicultural- policy embraces cultural differences and gives everyone the right to express cultural identity.